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Iraq protecting civilian lives in Mosul: Analyst

Tuesday, 24 January 2017 4:22 PM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 24 January 2017 4:51 PM ]

Iraqi forces help a woman fleeing Daesh-controlled Rashidiyah neighborhood in Mosul on January 22, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

The United Nations and other international and local aid organizations have warned about the living condition of an estimated 750,000 civilians in the Daesh-controlled western Mosul. According to UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq, Lise Grande, the civilians in that area are facing soaring prices of basic goods and intermittent water and electricity supply. Since October 2016, Iraqi forces have started a major military operation to liberate Mosul and have managed to push back Daesh terrorists from eastern part of the city.

Zayd al-Isa, a Middle East expert from London, says that Iraqi armed forces have made their best effort not to put in jeopardy the lives of civilians in Mosul operation.

“The Iraqi government has been extremely careful when advancing to make sure that it does not jeopardize or put at risk the lives of those civilians remaining in west Mosul,” Isa told Press TV’s Top 5 on Tuesday.

The assault against the terrorists in Mosul has taken more than three months, because the Iraqi government and popular forces preferred to slow down their advance in the region to save more lives, he noted.

The Daesh terrorists “hide behind innocent civilians” and use them as human shield to launch attacks from within civilians, who have remained in the western part of the city, he stated.

So, the Iraqi security forces have had to change their tactics to foil Daesh inhuman counterattacks in Mosul, the analyst said.

The Iraqi forces have appropriately planned about how to deal with car bombings, coordinate among themselves and avoid civilian casualties, he added.

The analyst also touched upon the role of the Popular Mobilization Forces in the battle to liberate Mosul, noting that the forces have played a key role in preventing the Takfiri terrorists from fleeing Mosul to end up in Syria.

Pointing to the role of the United States and Saudi Arabia in paving the ground for Daesh terrorists to move into Syria, Isa asserted that Americans and Saudis want to use the Takfiris as their mercenaries to wreak havoc in the Arab nation.

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